Business Briefs: PEDCo jobs Announcement

PEDCo is planning to make two announcements concerning its job creation efforts in Pueblo, beginning with a public announcement Monday afternoon.

PEDCo said the Monday announcement will start at 4 p.m. at the Pueblo Convention Center and the public is invited.

The second announcement is set for Wednesday afternoon and is not public.

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New order for Vestas

Vestas announced Friday that it will supply turbines for another 60 megawatts of electricity on facilities owned by Broomfield-based Renewable Energy Systems America Inc.

The project will use Vestas’ V100-2.0 megawatt turbine and deliveries for the project are expected to occur between 2014 and 2015. There is potential for the facilities to produce up to 610 megawatts.

The names or locations of the projects could not be released.

Vestas has worked with RES in the past, including a project near Limon that was the first to utilize turbines manufactured in Colorado.

Vestas operates a facility in Pueblo that builds the support towers for the structures.

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Tax helpers needed

The Pueblo Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Coalition is looking for volunteers.

People who are interested in providing tax help must go through one of two preliminary trainings, scheduled for 1 to 4 p.m. on Oct. 23 and 30, at the Robert Hoag Rawlings Public Library.

There is a capacity for 10 volunteers at each training. For more information, call (719) 296-8768.

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BlackBerry layoffs

BlackBerry said Friday that it will lay off 4,500 employees, or 40 percent of its global workforce, as it reports a nearly $1 billion second-quarter loss a week earlier than expected.

BlackBerry had been scheduled to release earnings next week. But the Canadian company said late Friday afternoon that it expects to post a staggering loss of $950 million to $995 million for the quarter, including a massive write-down of the value of its inventory due to increasing competition.

BlackBerry said it wants to slash operating costs in half by the first quarter of 2015 so cutting its global staff to 7,000 is necessary.

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SNAP STAT

305

The number of metropolitan areas (out of 381) that saw an increase in gross domestic production last year.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis

Business Briefs are compiled from staff reports and Chieftain wire services.